Wildlife management

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is met by reporters as he returns to the Capitol from the White House as work to avoid a partial government shutdown continues with President Donald Trump demanding funds for a border wall, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 21, 2018. Trump is imploring McConnell to change the Senate's rules in order to pass the spending bill. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — 'Twas just days before Christmas, and all through the House — and Senate — not a shutdown solution was stirring, and lawmakers, boy, did they grouse. The chaos that is President Donald Trump's White House seemed to wash over the Capitol as this weekend's partial federal shutdown...

FILE - This July 6, 2011, file photo shows a grizzly bear roaming near Beaver Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. U.S. government attorneys are appealing a court ruling that restored protections for grizzly bears in the Northern Rockies and blocked plans to hold the first public hunts for the animals in decades. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart, File)

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. government attorneys filed notice Friday that they are appealing a court ruling that restored protections for grizzly bears in the Northern Rockies and blocked plans to hold the first public hunts for the animals in decades. The legal move challenges a September ruling...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is acknowledging its plan to open Alaska's pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development would affect polar bears, tribal hunters and many others. The administration released the draft environmental impact statement Thursday for its...

This undated photo provided by in Lawerence County Sheriff in Mt. Vernon, Mo., shows David Berry Jr. Berry was ordered to watch the Walt Disney movie at least once each month during his one-year jail sentence in what conservation agents are calling one of the largest deer poaching cases in state history. Lawrence County Prosecuting Attorney Don Trotter says the deer were killed for their heads and their bodies were left to rot. (Lawerence County Sheriff via AP)

OZARKS, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri poacher has been ordered to repeatedly watch the movie "Bambi" as part of his sentence in a scheme to illegally kill hundreds of deer. David Berry Jr. was ordered to watch the Disney classic at least once a month during his year-long jail sentence in what conservation...

FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a Mexican gray wolf leaves cover at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro County, N.M. Wildlife managers have confirmed that a record number of Mexican gray wolves have been reported dead this year, fueling concerns about the decades-long effort to return the endangered predator to the American Southwest. Officials say five wolves were found dead in New Mexico in November alone, bringing the total for the year to 17. It also marks one of the deadliest months in the history of the reintroduction program. (Jim Clark/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP, File)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Wildlife managers have confirmed a record number of Mexican gray wolves have been reported dead this year, fueling concerns about the decades-long effort to return the endangered predator to the southwestern U.S. Five wolves were found dead in New Mexico in November,...

FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2014, file photo, an endangered female orca leaps from the water while breaching in Puget Sound west of Seattle as seen from a federal research vessel that had been tracking the whales. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is proposing $1.1 billion in spending and a partial whale-watching ban to help support the recovery of Puget Sound's critically endangered orcas. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

SEATTLE (AP) — With scientists warning that the Northwest's beloved killer whales are on the brink of extinction, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced dramatic plans Thursday to help the population recover — including $1.1 billion in spending and a partial whale-watching ban. "We are undertaking a...

In this photo taken Oct. 4, 2018, eastbound Interstate 90 traffic passes beneath a wildlife bridge under construction on Snoqualmie Pass, Wash. The stretch of highway crossing the Cascade Mountains cuts through old growth forest and wetlands, creating a dangerous border for wildlife everything from an elk down to a small salamander. The new crossing gives animals in these mountains a safer option for crossing the road: They'll be able to go above it. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

SNOQUALMIE PASS, Wash. (AP) — Before descending the Cascade Mountains on its final stretch to Seattle, Interstate 90 cuts through a mountain pass of old growth forests and wetlands. For countless wildlife species, the busy highway is a border, constraining their movements and posing a fatal risk...

WASHINGTON (AP) — One after another, landmark U.S. protections for climate, air and land are in the crosshairs of the Trump administration as his agency leaders move past early fumbles and scandals to start delivering on a succession of promised environmental rollbacks. On Thursday, the Interior...

FILE - In this March 14, 2018 file photo, a California sea lion designated #U253 heads towards the Pacific Ocean after being released in Newport, Ore. A bill making it easier to kill sea lions that feast on imperiled salmon in the Columbia River has cleared the U.S. Senate. The measure would allow a more streamlined process for Washington, Idaho, Oregon and several Pacific Northwest tribes to capture and euthanize sea lions. The bill sponsored by Idaho Sen. Jim Risch and Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell cleared the Senate Thursday, Dec. 6. It's similar to legislation that the U.S. House passed in June. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

SEATTLE (AP) — A bill that would make it easier to kill sea lions that feast on imperiled salmon in the Columbia River has cleared the U.S. Senate. State wildlife managers say rebounding numbers of sea lions are eating more salmon than ever and their appetites are undermining billions of dollars of...

In this photo released by New Zealand Department of Conservation, the department's workers clear perished pilot whales after a stranding in Owenga, Chatham Islands, New Zealand, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Fifty-one pilot whales died Friday in another mass stranding in New Zealand, less than a week after 145 pilot whales and nine pygmy killer whales perished in two other, unrelated stranding. (New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Fifty-one pilot whales died Friday in a mass stranding in New Zealand, less than a week after 145 pilot whales and nine pygmy killer whales perished in two other unrelated strandings. In the latest stranding, up to 90 pilot whales beached themselves late Thursday at...